The trouble of mistletoe
by Umbreonwriter
Summary: It's the holiday season at Beacon Academy! And of course, Yang has a sneaky idea to finally get Jaune and Pyrrha together! But why is she dragging her partner into it? She could easily put it up herself. Oh well, Blake won't argue with the results.
1. Chapter 1

RWBY: Ninja's of...mistletoe?

 ***slowly peeks out from my bedroom and sneaks into my office***

 **Um...yeah. So I'm still alive. I haven't worked on Heart Taker in a while, I'm aware. Life can be bitch, I'm sure we can agree. Lots of details, so going into them are going to triple how long this fic is going to be, but I am Umbreonwriter dammit and I am BACK! For now! Whatever!**

 **Anyway, this is, obviously, a crack fic, as I'm fairly certain Jaune and Blake interact little to none, but I can't help it! This is one of my favorite pairings in RWBY, minus probably Jaune and Yang, though that's more of a "let's see how badly we can torture the dork". For all intents and purposes, Blake would be the quote unquote 'main character' as it will mostly be focused on her and her thoughts.**

 **Oh and warning: OOC alert, and if you are a Pyrrha and Jaune shipper, you may want to excuse yourself now.**

Winter at Beacon Academy! Of course, everyone knew what that meant: snow falling, less homework (Even from Goodwitch), hot cocoa, pancakes, cookies, and of course, shenanigans of the Yang kind. Said resident brawler was currently staring, with intensely narrowed eyes, at her team's dorm room, her face showing to anyone who cared to observe that she was plotting, calculating, scheming and other words of similar description.

This was normal in the eyes of their team leader and her sister, Ruby, who was badgering Weiss to go out and play in the snow with her, while the icy heiress was trying her best to study and ignore the interruptions. The only person who wasn't paying any attention to anything around her was Blake, the cat faunus ninja girl, who was curled up on her bed, reading yet another book and trying to stay warm under her sheets.

Unfortunately, this wasn't to be…

"Blakey, I need your help!" Yang's singsong voice sounded as she leaned over on her bunk, her golden locks dangling into Blake's peripheral vision.

With a slightly growing sense of dread, Blake shot her partner a sideways glance to see Yang with her trademark grin. "What is it this time?" She asked quietly, only for Yang's grin to grow even wider for some reason.

"We all know Jauney is a little oblivious right?" This caused Blake's cat ears to twitch, she knew something was up, and was incredibly hesitant to be included in any plans her partner was making.

"Yaaaaaang, what are you planning?" Ruby called out, turning her head to look at her sister. Yang sat up on her bed and turned around to face the reaper.

"The one thing that we can use to get Jauney and P-money together of course!" She declared loudly, only earning a confused look from Ruby and a raised eyebrow from Weiss, who looked up to see what was happening.

"What are you going on about now?" Weiss sighed, closing up the textbook she was studying, seemingly realizing that she wasn't getting any work done. Yang groaned in mock annoyance and rolled her eyes.

"Come on, girls! It's winter, almost Christmas! What is the one thing people constantly use this time of year for decoration?" Yang asked, exasperated.

"Wreathes, pine trees, Christmas lights, ornaments-" Blake started listing off casually as she continued to read, only to have a pillow be thrown in her direction from above, somehow missing her and landing smack dab onto Zwei, who was napping in the middle of the room.

The poor dog yelped and jumped forward before running under Weiss' bed. "Sorry boy!" Yang called out apologetically before leaning back over and glaring at Blake. "I mean mistletoe! What else would help them get together?"

Ruby's eyes grew big and started sparkling as she got excited. "Oh oh oh, like in those stories where people meet under a mistletoe without realizing it and have to kiss and end up realizing they were in love with each other?" She asked and bounced up and down, grinning wildly as Yang nodded as seriously as she could manage.

"Yes dear sister, just like that! There is just one problem..." Yang trailed off, looking between the three others to ensure she had their attention before continuing, "Blake needs to set it up."

A moment of silence passed.

"Excuse me?" Blake asked in what almost sounded like indignation, sitting up and closing her book before leaning over the side of the bed to glare at her partner.

"Come on, you are the sneaky one! Ren could probably set it up quietly but you know he won't unless Nora asks and she can't keep anything quiet!" Blake had to give Yang that, JNPR's resident basket case was even less subtle than Jaune, and it wasn't because her primary weapon was a hammer that turned into a grenade launcher.

"Wait, where would you get mistletoe? Most of the shops in Vale are closed due to the snow." Weiss pointed out to the window where it was snowing steadily, easily two feet were already on the ground and it was only growing.

Yang grinned and jumped down from the bunk bed before going to her dresser, pulling out a small box. She opened it up and proudly displayed a batch of mistletoe, which only raised more questions.

"I'll take back that question and rephrase it, where did you get mistletoe?" Weiss asked wearily, rubbing her temples slowly as she already felt the onset of a headache coming on. Yang shrugged casually and covered the box, tossing it to Blake's bed.

"I asked around." She answered vaguely before turning to the black haired girl. "So, you wanna help me out partner?" Yang grinned innocently. Blake sighed and shook her head.

"Why are you getting involved in the first place Yang? Pyrrha has been handling it her way up until now." Blake tried to deflect, even if everyone here knew Pyrrha's way of "handling" her infatuation with her leader was less than successful even after all this time.

Yang narrowed her eyes and folded her arms obstinately. "Blake, you and I both know that Pyrrha isn't going to do anything, and we both know damn well that Jaune doesn't know his sword from Crescent Rose when it comes to romance. It was fun at first to needle Pyrrha about it and watching the two of them but now it's gone beyond that into annoying." The rest of the team had to agree, they were tired of the dance the two of them had been doing, Jaune unwittingly taking part in it.

After he encouraged Neptune to go after Weiss (that hadn't worked out as well as the two had hoped), he had moved on and become slightly more...oblivious, if that was even possible. So it was somewhat logical to want to push him towards a potential partner, namely one who was completely enamored with him, even if there were other candidates. Indeed, ever since Pyrrha had taken up training Jaune, he had started to slowly change, very very subtly at first but it was clear some change was occurring. He had become less socially inept, though he was still completely awkward, and was a challenge for some low tier first years to take down in combat training.

And he was still oblivious to when other girls were interested in him.

No, not just Pyrrha, though that would make life very easy. Instead, the girls consisted of Ruby, Blake's own leader and while the faunus was positive she was crushing on Jaune, the red reaper was almost certainly unaware of it due to her own lack of social skills, surprisingly Velvet Scarlatina, a second year rabbit faunus that had grown to be friends with RWBY and JNPR, and...Blake herself.

Blake hung her head in mock exasperation as she used her raven hair to hide her very faint blush as the thought crossed her mind. She wasn't going to lie to herself, she was very interested in the Arc boy; there was something to be said about a person who approached the differences between human and faunus and acted like they were the same in this age. Sure, it could be easily explained that he was a dunce and lived with an extremely simplified mindset, but it lent him a certain charm that Blake found attractive.

It wasn't just that he didn't care about faunus and human differences, he was a genuinely nice and sweet guy when he wasn't trying to flirt (badly) with you, or wasn't stumbling over his sentences and making himself look like an idiot. He enjoyed reading, though it was predominately X-ray and Vav, she had seen him reading some very good books and enjoying them, which pleased her even if it wasn't Ninja's of Love (no it's not smut, it's artistic literature).

So while Blake was honestly not interested in following through with Yang's plan out of annoyance and exhaustion, she deep down didn't want to help Pyrrha get Jaune, even if by rights she should. Were there even rights and rules to this sort of thing? Why wasn't this like a book, it would be so much easier…

With a resigned sigh, Blake shut her eyes tightly as, in her mind's eye, she saw a little chibi Blake looking on at an equally chibi Jaune with teary eyes as a heart broke in the background. "Fine, what's the plan?"

She tried to put as much boredom into her voice as possible and it seemed to have work as Yang fist pumped and yelled. "Yes! Operation Sneaky-toe is online!" This earned a deadpan look from the other three girls, even from Zwei who popped his head out from under the bed to stare at the buxom blonde. "What, are you not amused?"

' _Why am I helping her?'_ The question ran through Blake's mind like a rampaging Ursa Major, and it wasn't even clear who she meant by 'her'. Was Blake talking about Yang and her stupid plan of using, of all things, _mistletoe_ , or Pyrrha who was stubbornly refusing to make a move on Jaune, thus forcing Yang, and by extension Blake, to this action? The cat girl grit her teeth as she tried to pin the mistletoe to the door frame, the rest of her team was out hunting for a wild JNPR that was somewhere in the academy. "Stupid damn thumbtack!" Blake swore under her breath as she tried harder to jam it against frame, but either the thumbtack was incredibly dull or the wood was incredibly strong, all Blake earned for her efforts was an indentation in her palm and a stinging pain that would go away in a moment. She bite back a curse and closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down with slow, deep breaths. This wasn't the time for her to lose her seemingly infinite cool.

She narrowed her eyes and pressed the tack into the frame, slowly twisting it into the wooden frame and gave a mental cheer as she felt the tack give and start entering, pinning the mistletoe into place. Blake sighed as she thought up the rest of Yang's plan, resting her forearms on the door. _'Find JNPR, try and get Pyrrha into the room before Jaune, hope he'll be off somewhere, and when he knocks, Pyrrha will answer, they kiss and we get to forget our own little emotions in this situation.'_ She thought to herself bitterly. She couldn't help it; while she wasn't one hundred percent in love with Jaune Arc, she still felt for him and the thought of another woman, even one who she had agreed to step aside for, left a horrible feeling in her gut, like she was doing something she was going to regret.

Blake sighed and got down from the stepladder she was on (where did Yang get a stepladder from?). "If it makes him happy, who am I to argue though?" It wasn't like he could do better than Pyrrha, the Mistral Champion, cereal box celebrity, and a girl who already devoted every moment of free time she could to him willingly, even without the promise of any sort of return from average, every day kind of guy Jaune.

She was shook from her thoughts as a knock sounded from the door, which almost startled her enough to drop the stepladder. She regained her composure and set it aside before opening the door without thinking to check who it was as she looked towards the stepladder to make sure it didn't fall over. "Oh, hi Blake!" That voice. Blake's golden eyes grew to the size of saucers as she swiftly turned her head to the source, only to be met with the grinning face of one blonde, doofus knight. "I forgot my Scroll in the library and I overheard Yang talking to the others about some party that was happening in your room. Was she just pulling my leg again?" He asked innocently. It was just like him to do something like that too-oh.

' _Oh. Fuck.'_ She mentally swore as the situation just occurred to her. She shot her gaze up to the mistletoe as the facts processed through her brain. Raising an eyebrow, Jaune did the same, which only made him more confused.

"Um. Is that mistletoe?" Jaune asked dumbly before he blushed as fiercely as he did when Yang teased him about trying to cope a feel on Pyrrha.

Blake suddenly found the ground very interesting as she chewed on her lower lip, the possibilities running through her head. _'If I kiss him now, I can at least say I had his first kiss. But what if he doesn't want to? I don't want to force him. If he does, maybe he's interested. Is he interested? Damn you Arc!'_ Blake mentally shouted as Jaune blinked slowly, the pieces falling into place in his mind. Blake fidgeted in front of him, refusing to meet his eyes. "I-I, um, w-we don't have to. I-I won't be mad or anything-" Her stuttering was brought to a hush as he tilted her head up and covered her lips with his. She stiffened instinctively, her eyes doubling in size again before they slowly closed and she leaned in to the kiss, clutching the front of his hoodie. They broke apart after a few seconds and stared at each other, neither saying a word before Jaune gave his signature lopsided smile.

"Blake, would you-would you go out with me?" His voice was meek and nervous, though she supposed it was only natural after having a girl like Weiss refuse him so often and so vehemently. Blake's brain stopped as she tried to figure her way out of this.

' _He asked me out. Should I accept? What about Pyrrha? She'll likely hate me and I really don't want to be like that girl that snatches away someone's man in those stories. But she's not here, and we just kissed.'_ Blake's ever-thinking mind got to work, even as she replayed the kiss over and over in her head. It wasn't forced, at first it was if only out of surprise on her end, but other than that it was, dare she say...perfect? There was no intimacy involved in the kiss, but there wasn't any needed. Did he feel the same way? Or was he simply wanting to kiss a hot girl and then throw her to the side? Monty Oum, she hoped that wasn't the case.

"Blake?" Jaune's voice was hesitant and called her out of her thoughts. "We don't have to...I just thought-" He was cut off as Blake shook her head and pressed against him.

"I would Jaune." She whispered, though Jaune heard her clearly and he grinned widely before wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Really? You'll go out with me?" Blake had to laugh a little at his happiness, even if it was kind of to be expected. The dunce was so easily pleased it was adorable.

"Yes, now shut up and kiss me, idiot." She lifted her head up and pushed her lips onto his, only for him to receive her with great eagerness. She slowly brought her arms around his neck and flicked her ears as they settled into the kiss happily. How long they would have stayed kissing would forever remain a mystery as they were interrupted unceremoniously.

"Jaune? What are you-Blake?!" Yang's stunned voice caused the two of them to break apart and look to the source, only to see the rest of their teams standing in the hall a little bit away from Jaune. All present, save for Ren who only had a raised eyebrow, had stunned looks decorating their faces.

Jaune, once again oblivious, gave them a stupid grin. "Hey guys, what took you so long?" Blake, however, stayed quiet and immediately locked eyes with Pyrrha. Blake internally winced as she saw the hurt and anger in the champion's eyes, her fists clenched at her sides.

"What are you two doing?!" Weiss' shrill shriek knocked everyone to their senses as she glared murderously at the blonde knight.

"We were-" Jaune got caught off by Nora who tilted her head with a stupefied look.

"Are you two together-together?" Blake mentally face-palmed, leave it to Nora to get straight to the point. She nodded as they let go of each other reluctantly and faced their teams.

"Yes...we just now started." Blake answered in a quiet voice, bowing her head as reality set in. _'Pyrrha is going to hate me.'_ She shot Jaune a sideways glance as the members of her team started drilling him about what happened and smiled slightly. _'But, as long as he's with me, I think everything will be fine.'_

 **So, what do you guys think? Good, bad? Love it, hate it? Drop a review if you guys want, let me know. And if you want to see me do more RWBY fics, shoot me a PM and give me an idea of what you want to see. I will work on it but I cannot promise stable updates, just stable quality, which I feel is a better decision so I don't sacrifice the story for faster updates.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed regardless! Take care and have a great holiday season, whatever you may celebrate!**


	2. Chapter 2

The trouble of mistletoe Part 2

 **Wow. The response I got from you guys has been...well, overwhelming would be somewhat of an understatement. I've gotten quite a few requests for a second chapter, even though I felt it was done well enough as a one shot, but I got a second story idea running through my head that I felt would be better implemented as another chapter.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy, and thank you all for the support!**

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That's how the saying goes right? Well what about when life gives you a heartbroken, angry and jealous spartan champion after she just caught you making out with the object of her affections?

Blake didn't have an answer as she stood across from Pyrrha on the roof where she and Jaune trained, the red haired spartan refusing to face the Faunus woman as they both were bundled up in their winter coats. It was probably for the best, as Blake wasn't sure how she would take seeing Pyrrha's anger firsthand. If there was one thing people would say about Pyrrha, other than her obvious skill and fame, it would be she possessed almost infinite patience and never seemed to get upset, even when Jaune was dead set on pursuing Weiss or was oblivious to her very obvious hints.

The thought of her breaking that patience was...chilling.

"Why?" Pyrrha's quiet, hoarse voice shook Blake from her musings, causing the woman to look to the snow covered floor.

"You know why." Blake responded flatly, refusing to budge from her stance. This lack of any sort of real reaction caused Pyrrha to whirl around on the ninja, her eyes red from almost crying.

"No I don't know why Blake! Why did you kiss him?" The champion demanded angrily, her question causing Blake to wince internally.

' _That's right...only my team and Sun knows that I'm a Faunus...'_ Thinking of the monkey Faunus almost made her groan in annoyance, but she squelched it. That boy, or man, take your pick, was infatuated with Blake for some reason, but she refused his advances shortly after the dance, wanting to instead remain tied only to her team and JNPR. _We see how well that turned out.'_

Blake closed her eyes and decided to bite the bullet head on. She reached up to her hair and slowly undid her ribbon obscuring her ears, revealing them to Pyrrha. Her eyes widened as she tried to stifle a gasp. "You're..."

"He doesn't care about this. Even though he doesn't know." Blake spoke these words extremely softly, though they carried clearly over to Pyrrha. The champion lowered her own head as the facts registered through her mind, starting to understand.

"Because he accepts you for who you are."

Blake nodded, even though she couldn't see. "The same reasons you did, only in a different way. He doesn't care about your fame, he doesn't care about Faunus and human differences. After being exposed to a world that hates my kind so much, finding one human who doesn't hate us meant more to me than anything in this world. It means that peace might actually be achievable and not some idle daydream made up by a child." She couldn't help the bitterness that showed itself in her voice as her thoughts turned to Adam and the White Fang. Her romantic side turned to Jaune fighting Adam for her, even though she dearly wished it wouldn't come to that, as she knew the blonde knight wouldn't stand a single chance against the White Fang's leader. She wasn't even sure Pyrrha could beat Adam, and that was a very chilling thought in of itself.

Pyrrha tried to steady her breath, closing her eyes as she tried to reign in her anger and see things from Blake's perspective. "I...understand your reasons." She took in a deep breath and slowly wiped her eyes before closing the distance between the two of them.

Blake's head shot up before Pyrrha closed her arms around her into a reassuring hug. _'Reassuring for who though? Me, or her?'_ She couldn't help but wonder as she too hugged the spartan woman. They stayed embraced like this for a moment before Pyrrha pulled away, smiling slightly.

"I hope you two are happy together Blake. Honestly." Blake again saw her chibi self cheer as a chibi Pyrrha waved a white flag on the battlegrounds of loving Jaune, and somewhere in her mind, Blake was seriously questioning why she was seeing chibi versions of her friends. _'Have I not slept enough?'_

Blake smiled and nodded. "Thank you Pyrrha. I won't apologize for falling for him, but I am sorry for hurting you like this." Pyrrha pulled away and sniffled unconsciously as she tried to wipe her eyes again.

"Apology...accepted. I think you should go back inside." She said, standing a couple feet back from Blake.

"Are you not coming in?" Blake asked, tilting her head curiously. Pyrrha shook her head and turned around to face the Emerald Forest.

"I'm not quite ready. I need more time, I'm afraid." Blake bowed her head and turned towards the door, going inside without a word. What Blake didn't know though, was that as soon as the door closed, Pyrrha sank to her knees and gripped her arms tightly as she felt tears coming in full force. This time, the proud champion did nothing to stop them, instead allowing them to come forth in acknowledgment that she, Pyrrha Nikos, had missed her one shot at love.

 **(XXX)**

Blake sucked in a deep breath as she felt the warmth of Beacon hit her like Yang when someone took a strand of her hair. She shook herself slightly and started down the hall to her dorm, before she noticed something lurking around near the door. "Hey Blake." It was Jaune, and it looked like he was dressed to go outside, probably to check on the two females who's hearts he unwittingly captured.

Blake's tense posture relaxed as she let a smile wash over her face. "Hey Jaune. Where are you going?" Jaune scratched the back of his head sheepishly, blushing a little.

"Well...I was going to check in on my partner and...um...I guess, girlfriend..." He was getting thoroughly embarrassed, probably because he had never had a girlfriend before so saying out loud was new to him.

' _How would he react to calling someone his wife?'_ Blake thought sneakily, though she refused to indulge in her desires to think about that. Even she had limits of romance. "You 'guess' your girlfriend?" Blake raised an eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest. Jaune's face quickly resembled that of a ripe tomato as he tried to stutter and save the situation he had put himself in.

"Wait that's not-I mean-I didn't-Yes my girlfriend!" Jaune's embarrassed voice was getting nearly unintelligible, so Blake decided to save him from...well, himself and came up to him, leaning forward and placing a chaste kiss on his lips to silence him. Internally, she was in awe at the changes that Jaune seemed to inspire in her, certainly she was never this bold. Was her dad's side getting to her?

"Calm down, Jaune. I'm only teasing." Blake soothed, placing a hand on his cheek. Jaune took a few deep breaths before smiling up at her. He opened his mouth to say something before his eyes moved up and confusion flickered across his face. Blake frowned and tilted her head, her ears flicking a little unconsciously, forgetting she had her ribbon in her other hand.

"Blake you're...a Faunus?" Blake's blood froze, she didn't realize she had left her ears exposed after showing them to Pyrrha. She bit her lip and nodded slowly, suddenly very nervous about Jaune's reactions. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and that wasn't always a good thing. His gaze was transfixed on her black ears as they twitched uncertainly and he seemed to want to ask something but wasn't going to.

"What...is it Jaune..?" Blake was worried; if he thought she was never going to tell him, how would he react? It wasn't even day one of their relationship yet, and it was already in jeopardy. Or was she just overreacting?

He was quite for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak. "Can I….I mean, when were you going to tell me?" He seemed to change his mind about something, but Blake let it go.

"I was going to soon, Jaune, I promise. My team only recently found out against my will, and...I need to get comfortable with showing them to others. Even if it's you." Blake replied, reaching up to redo her ribbon, only for Jaune to place his hands on hers.

"Could I see them more often..? They look cute." Jaune and Blake flushed at his words, and she smacked his hand playfully.

"Fine...but only when we are alone." That brought a smile to Jaune's face and he kissed her again before pulling away.

"Thank you Blake...say, are you doing anything?" Blake tied her ribbon around her ears carefully and adjusted it as best she could so it sat comfortably before shaking her head.

"Not that I am aware of. I was hoping to go back to my room and read, but I think we both know my team won't let me get away unquestioned." Blake deadpanned, truly not looking forward to the incessant interrogation that was inevitable when she returned.

Jaune thought for a second before he held out a hand to her. "May I suggest a detour to the library, my lady? I would be honored to escort you myself." He offered with a fake baritone voice, causing Blake to giggle very slightly before she took his hand.

"While I could go myself, I would be happy to accept." She replied in her normal tone, planning on playing along with Jaune but broke the moment she saw his childish grin as his hand closed around hers.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to be with you Blake." Jaune stated as he looked over at her, his grin already as big as it could get. She could see the joy in his blue eyes as they met, and she could only smile in return at the honesty.

"I'm happy to be with you too Jaune. I hope we stay together for a long time to come..." Jaune squeezed her hand gently.

"Not for a long time. Forever." Blake's heart stopped when she heard those words and she stared up at him, wide eyed and silenced by shock.

 **Yes I did just end it here. I felt like I was padding it out, and I don't like padding. This was stretching it as it is, so I wanted to get it done, and I'm feeling okay about the end result. To everyone who thought the scene with Pyrrha and Blake went wrong, don't worry, I did too. I literally rewrote that entire part no less than three times and I went with this one, as there either wasn't enough emotions shown, too much, or Pyrrha flying off the handle at Blake which would have been SO out of character, I couldn't abide by it.**

 **But what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Should do a third part? I got a request to do a fic about Jaune meeting Blake's parents, and since I finally got caught up to volume 4 this past weekend, I can actually try to do that as a third part to this or as a separate story all together. You guys let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

Jealousy

 **Time to expand this story two more times. I'm going to post one more after this one and then it's done. This is dealing more with the aftermath and more as follow up to the last chapter, so bear with me. I'm not very good with conveying emotional breakdowns like what I wanted to do for Pyrrha, but I decided to go with a different approach.**

 **Also to Guest reviewer known as ERROR SANS: I'm not going to do that. It doesn't fit with the characters in any fashion, and for relationships like that to work, all involved need to feel the same way about each other, it can't be two people loving one other person and tolerating each other for it to work. I'm speaking from having seen it happen with several of my friends.**

The team dorms were quiet as evening fell over Beacon. It was the same day as Jaune and Blake became an item, and Pyrrha had disappeared shortly after the ninja and knight went to the library, though Yang was insistent that they were doing more than just reading. She had received a textbook thrown at her by Weiss for her trouble.

Ruby was laying on the bed with her legs hanging off the bed as she stroked Zwei, Weiss was still trying to work while Yang had left to do...something, the other two girls hadn't questioned the buxom brawler. This, however, was interrupted when they heard their door open and Blake walked in, looking quite happy with herself as she hung up her coat.

Ruby sat up as Zwei yelped a greeting, Weiss pretending the noise wasn't happening as Blake sat on her own bed and laid down, her face serene for once. Ruby cocked her head curiously like a puppy. "Blake, are you okay?"

Blake turned her head to face Ruby, blinking twice before registering Ruby's question. "I'm fine Ruby. Do I not look okay?" This drew Weiss's attention, who turned to look at Blake and then shared a glance with Ruby.

"You look...happier then usual. Like you read a really good book or..." Weiss trailed off as she remembered Yang's comment earlier.

Blake closed her eyes and smiled before sitting up and resting against the headboard. "I guess spending time with Jaune was what I needed." She said this casually, though her thoughts were quickly sour. _'As opposed to Sun.'_ That had been happening a lot today. Maybe she wasn't feeling as well as she thought she was.

Weiss's brow furrowed. "I highly doubt spending time with that dunce was as rewarding as you make it out to be." Blake scowled and shot a glare at the heiress.

"Jaune isn't as bad as you think Weiss. Just because you don't think better of him doesn't mean he isn't a good person." Blake practically growled at the white clad girl, surprising both of her team members present. Blake was certainly never like this, what had gotten into her?

Before Ruby could try and defuse the situation, their door opened again and Yang rushed in, shutting the door quickly, locking it and pulling one of Blake's bookcase in front of it. All three girls stared at the blonde with questioning looks, to which Yang turned around and shook her head.

"Don't go out there ladies. Whatever you do." Yang looked genuinely nervous, and Ruby slipped off the bed, Zwei whining at the loss of pettings before following the girl.

"Yang, why did you block our door?" Ruby was slightly wondering why everyone was acting out all of a sudden, was it because of Jaune and Blake? She didn't think so, even though it was a romantic thought. The two of them finally realizing their love, and that love reached out to effect all of their friends in different ways? She liked that idea, though she didn't like the effects that were happening if that were the case. Did Blake love Jaune? Did he love her? Questions for later, Ruby decided.

Yang looked back at the door before looking back at Ruby. "You know how no one's ever beaten Pyrrha?" The three girls nodded. "Well, P-Money looks like she's reached nuclear meltdown, and I want no part of getting in her way." Yang quipped before climbing into her bed and pulling a magazine from under her pillow.

Blake frowned and sat up fully, making like she was going to get up from the bed. "Pyrrha wasn't that upset earlier when I talked to her though. What changed between then and-" The cat girl's sentence was cut off by a loud slam from across the hall, causing the girls to jump and Zwei to whimper and hide behind Ruby's legs.

A moment of silence passed and when they didn't hear anything else, Weiss put her pencil down. "Was that…?"

Yang nodded. "Yup." She looked back at the magazine she had. "Tonight seems like a good night to sit in our room and do absolutely nothing, eh girls?" The girls settled into their own activities, though Blake couldn't focus on her book as she tried to listen for any sound from JNPR's room, worried for her boyfriend.

Monty Oum she had no idea how right she was to be worried.

 **XXXX**

Jaune had just come back from his first date with Blake, and he had a stupid, wide grin on his face, something both Ren and Nora noted as he entered their shared dorm. Nora, being the straightforward one that she was, decided to tackle what she thought was the problem head on. "Jaune-Jaune did you and Blakey do naughty things in the library?" Jaune's face instantly flushed and he started stammering as he tried to deny Nora's accusations, but it only came out as a tangle of words as impenetrable as a granite octopus Grimm.

Ren decided to save his socially inept leader, understanding that Nora had done this partially to get a rise out of Jaune. "Nora stop that, you know neither of them would do that." Jaune tried to control his breathing and push down his blush as Nora giggled like the demented schoolgirl she was.

"Sorry Jaune-Jaune, I couldn't help it!" She started bouncing up and down on her bed, as was her ritual whenever she was bored in the dorm. Jaune simply sighed at the bomber's antics and smiled before going to his bed.

"I-It's okay Nora. But Ren is right, we wouldn't do that unless we were dedicated to each other." While Jaune's words could have been misconstrued in a very negative light, Ren knew what he meant; they wouldn't sleep together unless they were certain they were getting married and spending their lives together. At least Ren was pretty sure that was what he meant.

Any future conversation was cut off by the sound of a quickly opening and closing door followed by something heavy being shoved forcefully around across the hall. Jaune raised an eyebrow as he sat up and, after a moment of silence, opened his mouth to speak before their dorm burst open to admit a thoroughly angry looking Pyrrha who slammed their door with enough force it shuddered, threatening to break.

Jaune took this time to step back and mentally assess his partner as he would an enemy in battle. Point one: Pyrrha was angry. She was never angry, even when Cardin had bullied Jaune she had maintained her calm and collected mentality. Point two: her hands were clenched fists and were shaking. That was terrifying, Jaune knew from experience how strong his partner was, and he was scared that whatever was upsetting her would blow up. No, he didn't know exactly why his partner was upset, he had an idea from when he asked Blake in the library, but he didn't know the exact reason. Point three: He saw streaks down her cheeks, suggesting she was crying.

All three points put together, Jaune decided he should help Pyrrha as best he could, try to figure out what had broken her almost Ren-levels of calm. He didn't exactly count on him being the cause…

As soon as Pyrrha heard Jaune get up, she flung a hand out and used her semblance on his belt buckle to push the boy back onto the bed. "Don't. Get. Up. Jaune." Her voice was veiled with anger, her entire body starting to shake. The other two team members shared a nervous glance, Nora stopping her jumping as they watched like two mice watching cats argue.

Pyrrha closed her eyes and turned to face her partner, and Jaune saw that practically her entire body was shaking with fury that even he could see. "P-Pyrrha what's going on? Did something happen?" Ren had to suppress the urge to face-palm at his leader's great obliviousness.

Pyrrha hung her head to avoid anyone looking at her face. "Why Jaune."

Jaune blinked in confusion. "Why...what?"

Her head shot up as fury and hurt shone from her green eyes, both of them directed at the blonde knight. "Why did you kiss Blake?!" Jaune, Ren and Nora jumped when she yelled, Nora even let out a quiet 'eep' and quietly hid behind Ren as Jaune tried to shrink more into himself.

Even despite his obvious fear of his upset partner, Jaune's loyalty and protectiveness of what he held dear was not to be underestimated. Jaune's face quickly grew into a slight scowl as he registered Pyrrha's words. "I like her Pyrrha, and she likes me. Why is it a problem?" Jaune froze for a second before his eyes narrowed and hardened, glaring a challenge at the Mistral champion. "Is it because she's a faunus?" Jaune's voice was still, his eyes locked with hers as she stiffened up.

"That's not what I have a problem with!" She shot at him, only for Jaune to stand up from the bed, not backing down.

"Then what is, Pyrrha? Why are you suddenly so upset that I have a girlfriend?" Jaune's confrontational attitude was new, this entire situation was new and it set Ren's nerves on edge how out of place everything was while Nora was chewing on her lip as she watched the two argue with each other; they hadn't done that for...actually, had they ever actually argued like this before? She couldn't recall.

"Is it not obvious?! I've done nothing but support you ever since day one, trained you, helped you when you struggled in classes, I hid this in the hopes of boosting your own confidence, even hiding your transcripts from Ozpin and Goodwitch! Is it not enough? Instead you choose her?!" Pyrrha exclaimed, slamming a fist into the wall next to the door in the direction of RWBY's dorm. Jaune closed the distance and glared directly into Pyrrha's eyes, unafraid of what she could, and very likely would, do to him at this range if he said the wrong thing. As he tended to do.

"No Pyrrha, it isn't obvious why you are suddenly upset with what's happened today! I'm not a mind reader, I am socially inept, so in what world would I know what it is you want short of actually telling me? Am I that fragile that you need to _hide_ things from me?!" Jaune barked angrily, his fists clenched hard enough that if it wasn't for his gloves, he probably would have been drawing blood in his palms. All four didn't register the sound of frantic banging from across the hall.

Pyrrha's voice fell to a dark whisper. "Do I need to show you then? Do I always need to take the first step?" Jaune nearly scoffed at her.

"It would be a nice change of pace instead of-" He was caught off by several things that occurred in the span of a few seconds. The door to their dorm opened to admit a certain black haired feline faunus carrying her weapon, looking primed and ready to unleash hell if trouble was afoot, Pyrrha had grabbed Jaune's black hoodie with one hand and the back of his head with her other and mashed their lips together, causing the eyes of Nora, Ren, and all of team RWBY to widen in shock. Blake's jaw dropped as Jaune stiffened up like a pole, his eyes wide and unable to register what was happening.

All of this happened in the span of five seconds before Pyrrha was simultaneously pulled and pushed away from Jaune by Blake and himself respectively. The ninja swiftly stepped between her boyfriend and her apparently still rival in love, her stance predatory and coiled. "What the hell did I just walk in on?" Blake hissed at both of them, though her gaze was directed at Pyrrha who seemed stunned and guilty of her actions.

Pyrrha's anger drained away, leaving only shame now that she saw Blake after their talk on the roof and their apparent truce at the time. "I let my emotions get the better of me..." Pyrrha whispered, again refusing to meet Blake's gaze as Jaune shook his head to clear his daze.

"You don't say." Blake spat as she straightened before she looked over at Jaune. "Are you okay Jaune..?" Her voice softened and Jaune nodded slowly, confusion written on his face.

"I...think so…." That was good enough for Blake as she whipped around at Pyrrha, and all concerned were fairly certain that it was taking all of Blake's self control not to gut Pyrrha. She wasn't _that_ angry, but she was very close to slapping the hell out of her. Silence descended the room, which was arguably more disturbing than the yelling that had occurred just seconds ago.

Jaune took this time to register his situation again and not act on his emotions like he usually did. _'Treat this like a battle, Arc. Assess the danger.'_ And danger there was; Pyrrha had just kissed him, practically all of his friends saw it so it's not like he hallucinated it if their reactions were anything to go by, and Blake was on the verge of snapping, judging by her white knuckles as she gripped Gambol Shroud, which was terrifying in it's own right. He swallowed his nerve and steadied himself before deciding to bite the bullet. "What was that Pyrrha?" No he wasn't THAT dense, he wanted Pyrrha to say it so that he wasn't taking this entirely out of context. Okay maybe he was that dense, but still! Did she do it out of jealousy for Blake? He didn't think so…

Pyrrha squeezed her eyes shut, lowering her head yet speaking loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "I love you Jaune. I have loved you since you stood up to Cardin, ever since you asked me for training. That's what that was Jaune."

"Jealousy." Blake's voice was plain and empty, even though she was certain their roles would have been reversed had she not kissed Jaune under the mistletoe and had let Yang's plan come to fruition, albeit with less spontaneous kissing of her love interest. Blake knew where to draw the line, even in her own anguish. Pyrrha winced at her words, Ruby chewed on her cape as she slipped behind Weiss, who in turn hid behind Yang, who hid behind the door, all three of the girls peeping their heads out to witness the events unfolding.

"It...yes, I was...Seeing you kissing Blake after months of pursuing Weiss and you never once looked at me...it hurt. It hurt more than any wound I have gotten in my time as champion. Did you never once consider me as more than a friend?" It was Jaune's turn to look ashamed, and Blake stepped back to not interfere, but slipped her hand into Jaune's to quietly lend him her support.

"No Pyrrha...I tried once, it just never clicked. Everyone here knows a lot about me, especially you and Blake, but I know next to nothing about your own life. About you, as a person, not as a huntress or a champion or a celebrity. I'm not all that smart Pyrrha, but I do know who I can't make happy..." Jaune trailed off, leaving an entirely bitter atmosphere in the room, and Pyrrha looking like she was about to cry again.

"And you can make Blake happy..." She muttered, after all, anyone could see it! The cat-girl was arguably the happiest she had ever been while at Beacon. She could also see how happy Jaune was, and it wasn't because he finally got a girlfriend or his first kiss, he was genuinely happy to be with Blake. Maybe that's why it hurt so much; then again, she never did consider that Jaune might not feel the same way she did. She had taken it as read that everything she had done would be enough to lock in his feelings towards her, and yet here he was, completely flying the face of everything she thought she knew about romance.

"I can certainly try. I know it's only day one, but I'm going to do my best to make this work." He paused for a second before looking at Blake and his team. "Could you guys...leave for a second? I need to say this to Pyrrha in private." Blake searched his eyes for any sort of clue as to what he might say, but couldn't find anything concrete so she simply smiled and nodded before pecking his cheek and walking to the door, the N and R of JNPR following and closing the door behind them.

After a few seconds, Jaune again closed the distance to Pyrrha and put his arms around her, causing her to stiffen up protectively before realizing what he was doing. She laid her head on his shoulder wordlessly as tears finally came again, her body hiccuping ever so slightly as he held her close like a protective brother. _'Brother...'_ In truth, that's what Jaune certainly tried to be to everyone. He never consciously tried to be that, but it came naturally to him, probably from his family.

Jaune stayed still, one hand on her upper back and another on the back of her head, trying to make her feel as safe as possible before he started to talk. "Pyrrha...I'm sorry I hurt you like this. But, for all my faults, I know I'm not the one who can make you happy. I don't know who that is, but you deserve someone better than me, someone who isn't a disappointment to his own legacy." This caused Pyrrha to choke on her own hiccup. He wasn't a disappointment, he had to know that, but she also knew that no matter how much she said this, he wouldn't believe it until he unlocked his semblance, and in his words, became capable on his own.

"I-I can't Jaune….h-how can I move on from you? I can't even think of being with any other person!" Pyrrha cried softly as Jaune's face softened even more.

"Pyrrha...you made it this far without even knowing I existed. We are a team now, we have each other to support us, so you can make it even farther. We are a family, and we look out for each other." Jaune held back saying more, as it was encroaching on self deprecating and he swore he would stop that.

His words seemed to help Pyrrha at least a little bit, and she pulled back from his shoulder, wiping her eyes slowly before smiling nervously at him. "I'm sorry I broke down like this Jaune. I didn't mean to kiss you like that." Jaune shook his head.

"It's fine Pyrrha, I don't think Blake will hold it against you. I don't, I know that much." Again, Pyrrha was reminded why she loved him; the idiot didn't have a single mean bone in his body and forgave things too easily. Still, she wouldn't jeopardize her friendships here, at least more than she already had, so she settled for nodding.

"Thank you Jaune….should we go to the others? It's almost dinner." Pyrrha had to laugh a little when she heard Jaune's stomach growl at the mention of dinner, reminding him that he needed to eat.

Jaune flushed slightly and placed a hand on his stomach. "That wasn't necessary, stomach. But yeah, we should. I think it would help the others to know we didn't kill each other." Jaune joked, and while it was a bad joke, Pyrrha still giggled a slight bit before she opened the door, revealing their friends and team waiting expectantly. Her eyes instantly locked on with Blake's and a silent understanding passed between them, even if Pyrrha hadn't gotten over her rejection. Blake swiftly left Yang and Weiss' sides to be next to Jaune, her eyes conveying silent worry as she looked over Jaune quickly.

"Sooooo..." Yang started, "are you two not going to kill each other?" Ruby whined and elbowed Yang in the ribs.

"Yaaaaang! Don't joke about that!" Ruby flailed at Yang as the blonde placed a hand on her head, keeping herself out of reach. Weiss rolled her eyes at their antics and grabbed Ruby's cape, dragging her down the hall.

"Stop being a child Ruby, it's almost dinner, we can talk to them there!" Weiss growled in annoyance while Ruby sulked, becoming as limp as possible. Yang grinned and waved at her sister as the red reaper glared back at her, before turning at JNPR and Blake.

"Seriously though, I want details. Are you two going to start sleeping together or what? Do I need to get you two some-" Yang's teasing was cut off by Blake pointing Gambol Shroud at the brawler as all present, save Nora who just looked confused, blushed heavily.

"Don't finish that sentence Xiao Long! I swear to Oum, don't finish that sentence!" Blake hissed, causing Yang to put up her hands on mock surrender, though her mischievous grin was still in place.

"Alright alright Blakey. Well, I better go make sure my sister doesn't torment the ice cream too much." Yang paused at her latest pun, and pouted when she saw Nora dragging Ren and Pyrrha away. "What? Not good enough?" Yang asked, causing Jaune to wince.

"No Yang. Not good at all." Blake nodded in agreement, pain covering her face.

"One of your most horrible puns yet." Yang gasped in mock hurt.

"So mean to your partner! How could you?!" Yang clutched her chest as she feigned falling over, only for Blake to shake her head at her partner's dramatics.

"Come on Jaune, we better go to. I need to ask you something anyway..." Blake looked at the young Arc and walked away from Yang, pulling him along as the Y of RWBY shouted at her.

"Traitor! Turning your back on your sister and partner for a boy! You wound me!" Blake shook her head and turned a corner abruptly, pulling Jaune with her as he stumbled from the sudden change in direction.

Blake opened a door leading to an empty stairwell that was never used and more than likely was probably not even known about, as Jaune's reaction confirmed her long standing suspicion, looking around in confusion. "Blake, where...are we?"

She shrugged and led him down a flight of stairs to the landing below. "Some unused stairs. I found them about a week into our time here; there are a lot of hidden areas that aren't used anymore. I come here if I need a place to read without being found or just to think. Or in this case..." She turned and pressed him against the wall, kissing Jaune tenderly as she put her arms around his neck, smiling into the kiss as he returned the gesture, "having a spot where I can kiss my boyfriend in private."

Okay, her behavior was really outlandish to her. Were those romance novels really getting to her? She had always wanted to have a romantic hideaway but had pushed that off as being far too childish and immature, yet here she was with Jaune, acting far beyond any sort of characteristic she displayed thus far. _'Stupid romance books, they made me such a sucker for this sort of thing.'_

Jaune blushed but kept her close, touching his forehead to hers. "W-Well...I can't really argue. I-If it means we get to do this more often, I can probably get away from Nora demanding pancakes from me to come." Blake smiled and kissed him softly again before he spoke again. "So...what did you want to ask me?"

Blake was brought back to reality as she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Right...well...I got a message from my parents a few days ago. They want me to come visit Menagerie my next break. I was wondering if...you would come with me." She held her breath as she blushed fiercely, refusing to meet Jaune's gaze.

Jaune, on the other hand, felt his eyes go wide. Only a few more months until their next break from school and he'd meet his girlfriend's parents. Oh sweet Oum, that was going to be mortifying. But...if Blake's reaction was anything to go by, she was nervous like he was, but it also, logically, meant a lot to her. After all, if her and Jaune could successfully stay together, it would certainly mean a lot to plenty of Faunus, and her parents undoubtedly wanted equality like every other Faunus…

Jaune may be an idiot, but he wasn't that big of one, so the answer was easy. "Of course I'll come Blake. But...I may have to tell my family I'll be late visiting them...and they'll insist I...bring you with me." He finished in a horrified whisper, the reality of his situation setting in. Oum above, what embarrassment would he suffer at the hands of his family in front of Blake?

This spring was going to be very interesting for them both…

 **Well, damn. Took me long enough, eh? I felt the quality drop off a bit, but when I reread it, I couldn't see 'where' the drop was, so I wasn't able to fix it. This chapter took a bit of time anyway as I wanted to try and get Pyrrha's anger at the right point, and was having trouble with it. And totally not because I got my hands on Witcher 3 for my laptop or anything, shut up.**

 **On that note, I want to bring to your attention a very well written Jaune x Yang story called One-Night Brand by KtyouVsWriting, which I very highly recommend to anyone remotely interested in that pairing. It's rated M, fair warning, for all you people who get uptight around sex, even if they really are as vague as possible.**

 **Well that's all for an A/N this time, next chapter will be Jaune meeting the in-laws, so hopefully look forward to it.**

 **Have good day/night in whatever part of the world you reside in!**

 **UmbreonWriter**


	4. PSA!

**Hello everyone!**

 **It's been a long while since either of my stories have been updated, I know. Well, my laptop that I was using got a nasty virus on it around summer last year, no idea how exactly, but it completely wrecked it. I haven't been able to get on a computer to update at all to let you guys know what was going on, and moving around as much as I have hasn't made it any easier. Hopefully, now, I can update at least a little better since a roommate has given me access to their laptop for writing and playing on Roll20 with some friends.**

 **Anyway, just letting you guys know what's up, why I haven't been updating this past year, and to let y'all know that I am now able to start again. It'll be a few days before the next chapter of "The trouble with mistletoe" is updated, and "RWBY Automata" should be updated later on this week if not next week. All I ask is a little patience in the meanwhile and I want to profusely thank everyone who's read, followed and favorited, it's very much appreciated!**

 **Praising the Sun all day every day,**

 **Umbreonwriter**


	5. Chapter 5

**The long awaited continuation of the love story that started all the way back in-wait, 2016? Jesus, I feel really bad for how long this took. Part of it was trying to get Kali and Ghira's personality comfortably but it never felt right. And of course, as the PSA let be known, the computer I had all my writing on got wrecked. So everything is now lost to the Void.**

 **Anyway, this is in an alternate timeline from the canon, as you might have guessed, and primarily the main difference is Cinder/Salem's plan didn't follow through. As for why, it doesn't really matter in regards to this story, so try not to sweat it too much. I have decided to not do the chapter with Jaune's family, at least not yet, simply because that's a lot of characters that we know almost nothing about, short of Jaune's dad giving him really horrible advice when it comes to women.**

Blake sighed softly as her knight was on his hands and knees, recovering from the trauma his body underwent from the flight to Menagerie. As Jaune tried to steady himself, Blake slowly looked around, taking in the sights of her home. Or former home, as it were. A small part of her was terrified of meeting her parents again, especially with her boyfriend in tow. Her father was very protective of his only child, and she still recalled how intimidated Adam was at first when they were younger. Flinching slightly at the thought of Adam, she shook her head swiftly, eager to be rid of any dark memories that would ruin her time with her loved ones.

"Why wouldn't we have gone on a ship?" Jaune grumbled, even though Blake knew he knew the answer and was simply complaining to vent his frustration at his constant motion sickness. Blake smiled slightly before helping her knight up.

"You're still alive, and you didn't throw up. That's an all around positive, even if Yang isn't here to see it." Blake responded, causing Jaune to groan in annoyance at the reminder of his hated nickname. Instead, he picked up the majority of their luggage that had been laying next to them. Before they had left Beacon, Jaune had insisted on carrying the most bags, despite Blake's protests that she wasn't a delicate flower like Weiss (the heiress had been less than pleased to hear that little comment). Regardless, Jaune proceeded to carry the heavy bags, mostly holding their clothes, while Blake adamantly held onto her small messenger bag holding several of her precious books (including one or two Ninja's of Love, maybe she would get a few ideas for the future).

Blake adjusted her bags and gestured for Jaune to follow her, since she still remembered where her parents home was from the last time she was here. As they walked through the Faunus village, she could see several pairs of eyes turn towards them, especially in suspicion towards Jaune who proceeded completely unaware. Blake winced internally; even though she knew they had their reasons, she hated how Jaune of all people was subject to such glares. But she conceded that only she really knew his personality, and that was what she had fallen in love with.

They had just turned down a street before she heard someone, "Blake? Is that you?" Eyes widening with surprise, she looked forward to see her mother staring back with equal surprise. Her mother gasped happily before rushing forward to embrace her daughter tightly, not something Blake expected and went stiff before relaxing and slowly returning her mother's hug.

"Hi mom." Blake muttered as she felt Khali's arms tighten around her before the older Faunus pulled away and cupped Blake's face. She moved Blake's head several directions, as if inspecting for any damage on her precious child, the older woman's eyes narrowed slightly before she smiled brightly and let go of her daughter.

"Oh thank Oum you are safe sweetie. Your father and I have been very worried when we didn't get any word from you for months, but I should have known you would be safe and sound." Anything else Khali was about to say was interrupted when she realized there was someone behind Blake. Leaning to the side slightly, Khali spotted Jaune, who was standing uncomfortably, holding their bags behind the ninja. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize Blake was bringing a friend." Blake coughed awkwardly, she and Jaune both knew they would introduce him as her boyfriend but she dreaded her father's reactions.

Jaune, his social skills finally kicking in, smiled slightly at the older woman. "Uh, hi! I'm Jaune Arc, Blake's boyfriend!" Khali froze as Blake closed her eyes. She loved him dearly, but dammit he had all the subtly of a bull in a china shop when it came to conversations. Stepping away from her mother, Blake stood next to Jaune.

"I'm sorry I didn't send a message mom, but I felt like I needed to tell you in person." Blake tried to recover the situation as best she could, even though her mother still seemed like she had been frozen. A brief period of silence passed, ten seconds at most, though it felt like ten minutes for Blake and Jaune, giving Blake even more anxiety than the thought of Pyrrha charging at her with intent to kill. "Mom...?" Blake tentaveily asked, slowly waving a hand in front of her face. Without warning Khali broke into a big grin before crushing Jaune into a bear hug of her own.

"You're her boyfriend? Oh Blake I'm so happy you found someone! I was so worried you wouldn't ever find someone you can be happy with!" Khali stopped mid-rant and looked over at her daughter. "He does make you happy right?" Blake sighed in exasperation as Jaune squirmed around in the older Belladona woman's grip.

"Yes mom. Jaune...isn't like him." Blake tried to be as vague as possible, hoping she wouldn't pique Jaune's curiosity while also letting her mother know Jaune was a good person. Half of her hope was dashed when Jaune raised an eyebrow at her, while her mother smiled brightly and let go of Jaune.

"Then you are more than welcome, Jaune!" Khali smiled happily, which Jaune returned nervously. "Now let me help you with some of those bags, sweetie, they look fairly heavy." She said as she reached for one of the bags Jaune was having trouble with.

"Oh uh, thank you Mrs. Belladona, but you really don't need to." Jaune tried to dissuade her, only to be completely ignored by the Faunus, leaving Blake to shrug as her mother led them back the way she came, easily carrying the bag she absconded with. She turned around and went back the way she presumably came from, gesturing for the pair of teens to follow her. Shrugging to Blake, who simply shook her head, well aware that standing around would only delay the inevitable, Jaune fell into step behind the Faunus woman with Blake close to him. Leaning towards his girlfriend, he whispered softly, "Who...was she talking about, Blake?" Blake inhaled sharply, but gently grabbed his hand and squeezed it softly.

"Not right now Jaune. I'll explain it later, I promise. This isn't the right place." She replied, earning a nod and a smile from Jaune, which she returned nervously. She looked forward, letting her mother lead them to their destination while she thought up of a way to explain Jaune's presence without her father tearing him apart. Meanwhile, Khali chattered to the two of them, mostly towards Jaune as she told several stories of Blake when she was a baby (including the one where a Blake that just started crawling somehow found her "special" books, which Jaune took up a look of understanding upon learning), as they approached a house that was larger than most of the others they had past.

Khali walked up the steps to the front door before turning to smile brightly at the duo. "Welcome home, you two! I think Ghira is in a meeting right now but he should be free afterwards. I'll take you two up your room in the meantime-oh wait, maybe two different rooms would be better..." Khali trailed off in thought for a few seconds before Blake spoke up, seeing an opportunity to take their several month long relationship at least a tiny bit farther.

"We can share my old room, mom." This broke Khali's train of thought and earned an incredulous look from Jaune. Blake, to her credit, remained looking at her mother unmoved by their reactions. Khali smiled, as though she tried to hide her real reaction, and opened the front door.

"It's decided then! I'll-" Blake cut off her mother, suddenly wanting to get Jaune alone so she could help her boyfriend prepare for her father.

"I'll take Jaune to my room, mom but thanks. We need to relax a little, the trip took it out of us." Blake hurriedly stated, gently taking the bag from her shocked mother (Blake made a mental note to apologize to her later for being so rude but she was nearly having a panic attack). Grabbing Jaune's hand with her free hand, she almost forcibly dragged him into the house and almost tore through it to her room, poor Jaune almost stumbling behind her as he tried desperately to not knock things over with his bags.

Opening the door to her old bedroom, Blake pulled Jaune into it and swiftly shut the door behind her before she leaned against it and dropped the bag she had taken from her mother while Jaune steadied himself, finally free from his girlfriend's vice grip. "Geez Blake, what happened? You completely changed back there, is everything okay?" Oum bless her, she adored it when he gave her the concerned puppy eyes. It was times like this when it was easy to imagine Jaune as a dog Faunus, his ears perking up as he tilted his head in concern-Blake internally shook her head to clear those thoughts away; they had been happening too often lately. Sighing heavily, Blake stood up from the door and traversed the room before sitting onto her bed, the poor thing groaning from sudden use after so long. She patted next to her wordlessly, refusing to look at Jaune's eyes as she tried to figure out how to explain her behavior.

For his part, Jaune set his bags down and slowly seated beside the ninja, gently placing a hand over hers. "Blake, what's up? You worry me when you get like this." He was right, this wasn't the first time she had almost completely shut down on him in recent months. Taking in a deep breath, Blake looked at Jaune, maintaining eye contact.

"It's about what my mom said. About you making me happy." Jaune's eyes widened in panic before Blake removed her hand from his and cupped his cheek. "Shh, it's not like that Jaune. You do make me happy, I promise, it was just..." Blake lowered her eyes before dropping her hand, which Jaune caught and held onto like a lifeline. "Mom was asking because of my last...partner, I guess you would call him." Blake didn't honestly know what to call Adam. An ex-boyfriend? A source of release? A lover? Ultimately it didn't matter, but Jaune did deserve to know things that she had kept to herself, even keeping it away from her team. "You remember that I was a member of the White Fang before coming to Beacon?" A nod. "I...their current leader and I used to be _involved_ with each other years ago. When I was fifteen, we turned to each other for comfort."

"Was this before the White Fang became violent?" Jaune asked softly, yet without judgement. Blake was eternally grateful Jaune was the way he was, it did help her with getting this off of her chest. She nodded before answering.

"It was. They were still pacifists, and we were both idealists, joining up to try and change how the world viewed the Faunus. We were attacked a few times, and he was there to help me pull myself back together. To this day, I don't know why the White Fang changed, I don't know why, or even when, _he_ changed either." Blake closed her eyes as memories came flooding back, though she fought to keep her voice steady. "All I do know is that he became the leader, and at a young age, and...somehow, the White Fang became more violent, more militant. We were all trained to fight, and in my own naivety I followed blindly. It was only last year, before I came to Beacon, that I realized that the White Fang had changed beyond repair." She stopped, remembering vividly the night she abandoned the White Fang, and Adam on that train. "So I left when I realized I had to dedicate myself to a goal that would only serve the whole of the world, not just my race." Blake trailed off again, honestly not sure where to continue. Jaune stayed silent for a moment before speaking up.

"How did you join the White Fang?" He asked hesitantly, which caused Blake to stare at him in shock. Of all the questions, that was the one she least expected.

"Well...I was sort of a member since I was born. My dad..." _'Don't tell him Blake, don't say it! Don't-'_ "My dad used to lead the White Fang before he stepped down." _'You damn idiot.'_ Jaune straightened up in fear.

"Wh-what?!" Yeah that horror in his voice was appropriate. Blake put her arms around him securely, trying to settle him down.

"It's alright, he hated how the White Fang became after he left. He always taught me that we needed to show we were people, and not seeing us as animals." Blake smiled up at him. "I think he'll approve of you." _'Provided he doesn't kill Jaune for touching you.'_ That damn voice in her head really needed to shut up!

Jaune smiled and hugged her in return. "You think so?" Blake nodded and leaned in to kiss him. Just as their lips met, Blake's door opened suddenly.

"Blake, Khali told me you were-" Blake's eyes shot open in panic, seeing Jaune's do the same as they separated immediately and look towards the door. Standing there was a large Faunus man, easily as tall and muscled as Yatsuhashi, if not more so, his face blank as he no doubt saw them kissing. Blake's face grew hot as he started speaking again. "Might I know what I just walked in on?" Her dad's voice sent shivers down her spine as only one thought wormed through her mind.

 _'Jaune's dead.'_

 **Well, this took long enough to come out didn't it! Didn't it! Sorry, I'm a little angry at myself for the amount of time it took, but I couldn't do anything about it before now. Anyway, yes this was left on a cliff-hanger, but I wanted to put it all in one chapter initially. But when I tried that, it ended up triple the length, and that just felt like a slog for anyone who would read this so I cut it down to this length and am going to surgically alter (read massacre and rearrange) what I cut out. Let me know how you guys felt about this, it felt really rushed and Blake especially felt OOC, but since it's spring, I'm operating off the assumption that Blake would have changed a bit due to Jaune's influence and been a bit more open with him especially.**

 **Also, to address possible concerns, since Rooster Teeth is based in North America, I'm going with the assumption that Beacon would operate similar to how the North American school system works in regards to seasonal breaks since, to my knowledge, we have no information on how a normal year of Beacon works.**

 **Before I go, let me know who you wanna see Jaune partnered with in a different fic. I'll be taking only PM's into consideration, since I haven't been able to figure out the polling system and don't have the time to figuring it out yet.**

 **Next RWBY Automata chapter is going to come out next week, so if your interested in that stay tuned, and as always, I hope you all have a fantastic day!**


End file.
